#TeacherTakeover

This is a screen shot of the tweet announcing our winners. We had an overwhelming amount of participation so we recognized the top five re-tweets rather than the originally planned top three.

We tweeted out tallies at the end of each day, keeping the momentum going and letting participants know of current re-tweets.

Sample of a teacher tweet during #TeacherTakeover - this teacher was not active on Twitter before #TeacherTakeover. After her involvement with our event, she now uses it more to communicate information to her drama students as well as gain resources for her classroom.

One-picture sample of a teacher tweet during #TeacherTakeover. This teacher took a picture as his automotives class worked on a project.

A sample teacher tweet during #TeacherTakeover. This teacher created a collage of pictures illustrating activities in her pre-school classroom.

Screen shot sampling of the #TeacherTakeover feed itself

While guiding students in posting positively, the staff on my high school's Digital Democracy team ,"Viking Network," created an event to promote the beneficial use of social media in school. We offered all teachers, coaches and activity sponsors to take part in a #TeacherTakeover. As a week-long event with prizes, we invited all staff to share via Twitter some of the great things going on at our high school, William Fremd High School in Palatine, IL. Everything from unique student projects to team achievements and club milestones to creative bulletin boards were shared. Teachers throughout the school, some of whom never tried Twitter before, joined in on the competition and further developed our school's PLN. The goal of #TeacherTakeover @ThisIsFHS was initially to illustrate the benefits of utilizing social media to engage, connect and motivate with a platform many students already regularly use . . . but became much more.

Because of the wide, cross-curricular response and active engagement of staff and students, as a follow-up, we will be turning the tables and giving the students the lead online. We will be offering the "3 Words Challenge," inviting students to post a 20-second-or-less video that answers the question, "What does 'FHS Unite' mean to you?" in THREE words. We will invite students to work alone, with a group of friends, as a class, a team or a club. The video with the most favorites and/or retweets wins the grand prize (prototype of specific instructions attached).

This follow-up event will invite students to collaboratively utilize their creative skills while highlighting the positive things that they love about their school. This promotes a kind, positive school culture along with a sense of belonging. Additionally, asking students to share using only 3 words, and limiting that share through a 20-second-or-less video, guides students to be cognizant of the purpose of their message and, thus, practice positive communication online.

Viking Network Team @ThisIsFHS:

Hamid Mehreioskouei, Assistant Principal

Theresa Christensen, English Teacher

Katie Johnson, Dean of Students/Family & Consumer Science Teacher

Jason Hogrefe, Physical Education Teacher

Keith Sorensen, Technology Coordinator

David Strykowski, Business Teacher

Share research or student experiences that informed your idea!

#TT was a productive event in not only modeling positive use of social media while highlighting student work but also in connecting teachers, opening doors for collaboration & positive culture. As documented in "12 Reasons to Get Your School District Tweeting This Summer" by Joe Mazza/Edutopia, Twitter provides an accessible platform for "an effective, innovative, student-focused community of teaching and learning." https://www.edutopia.org/blog/12-reasons-school-district-tweeting-joe-mazza.

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Here is a prototype of our next event. As a follow-up to the #TeacherTakeover event, we will be offering a new challenge to the students. In similar fashion as the teacher competition, students will be invited to share (using only three words!) what unity around our school means to them.

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Have you seen Nancy Watson's twitter lesson: https://collaborate.teachersguild.org/challenge/digital-citizenship/build/digcit6wordstories

I wonder if the teachers can start with 6 word stories --- for the teachers that struggle with what to share on twitter or teachers that don't use social media at all. They can still model good behavior by creating a short 6 word lesson on good citizenship and how that might transfer online.

Can you add 2 or 3 more screenshots of models to this container for teachers to see? So they can take those ideas and share it back with their teachers? More ideas, the better!

Thank you for your feedback, Jen! Yes, Nancy Watson's twitter lesson is a fabulous way to get kids practicing good behavior online while becoming cognizant of the meaning and significance of digital citizenship. What a good idea for 6-word stories . . . . stay tuned for our updates!! We will definitely be adding more resources teachers that'll coincide with our plan.